threshold at anomaly detection of uncanny

What is the perception of Gray State (uncanny threshold) for the Karachiites at sea

view housing scheme?

Acknowledgements

I am thankful to my advisors Suneela Ahmed and Rafi Ahmed for their guidance and supervision, Gemma Sharpe for the tips regarding the method of writing. I am grateful to my family for providing me with the endless supply of coffee and support, without which it would not be possible. For sharing her input during the final compilation of the document I am thankful to Samar Naqvi. I am grateful to all my friends for the discussions and too the people I interviewed. Lastly I thank Allah for helping me in the completion of the paper

Abstract

Why do we get scared in our own house? This question drove me to explore the architectural world of familiar and unfamiliar. House is a place that is familiar yet acquires the attributes of unfamiliarity. This ephemeral place created out of this uncanny transformation that only exists for a fleeting moment fascinates me. The source of my fascination is the idea that such

a place can leaves a powerful impact on a person. This ephemeral place is termed as Gray State. Paper further aims to explore this phenomenon, in a house of Sea View housing society located within Karachi Pakistan. It also delves into Lovecraftian Myths to explore extreme example of gray state in literature and to draw parallel with its occurrence in the real word. HP Lovecraft is a horror novelist who specialises in the horrors of the unknown. Through his work he explores unfamiliar landscape. How characters in his novels react to such landscape is what I am interested in, which provides hints of its nature.

The paper seeks to explore how momentary changes in physical characteristics can have drastic impact on our perception of the same space. By employing certain phenomenological techniques the paper intends to find out how experience and place are linked. The method of site description and interviews are used to collect the required information. The date itself was qualitative. Paper deals with concepts such as perception of space and its analysis which are subjective, implying that conclusions presented within this paper are qualitative and subjective in nature.

Introduction

Gray state is a place that exists between familiar and unfamiliar. This ephemeral place is a result of an interaction between the two spaces. Gray as a colour contains properties of both

white and black 1 , like this place which contains characteristics of both familiar and unfamiliar. Similarly colour gray is the transition between two non-colours, neither black nor

white. It takes the middle ground, neither one way nor the other. If spaces unfolded as 2 ‗events‘ ; framing emotions that they wish to inspire and our world is

perhaps defined by how we navigate through these events. Questions‘ regarding their nature rises with the possibility of their manipulation. Many horror storywriters have pondered over this idea and even manipulated the ‗events‘, to alter the familiarity of these places without altering the places themselves. One of such writer, HP Lovecraft transforms a normal space into a space of untold terror. A space as familiar as ones room is transformed and made unfamiliar by this event. His stories give an interesting insight in the fundamental experience

that unfamiliar evokes; which is a state of anxiety 3 .

For an understanding of gray state, it is necessary to define to a certain degree what is familiar. Familiar can be defined as having intimate knowledge of a certain element. 4

Unfamiliar can then be defined as having little or no knowledge of a certain element. Unfamiliar is another position through which our understanding of familiar can be brought into question. However what seems more fascinating is when they both interact, colliding and overlapping with each other, in shaping our experience of the built environment. These interactions are known in psychology as uncanny. Jentsch introduces the concept as ―the feeling of uncanniness [which] is a fundamental insecurity brought about by a lack of orientation a sense of something new, foreign and hostile invading an old, familiar ,

customary world‖ 5 . What he seems to be describing is a threshold.

1 Smith Kate, ―All About the Color GRAY‖, sensational color.n.d, web, 15 th june 2014

2 Bernard Tschumi. Six Concepts Excerpt from Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994 Pp 5,6.

3 ‗Anxiety‘ Def. 1a. Merriam Webster Online, Merriam Webster, n.d, web, 15 th june 2014 4 ‗Familiar‘.Def.6. Merriam-Webster Online, Merriam-Webster. n.d, web, 19 th November 2013 ,

5 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press

Unfamiliar spaces may either lie in the realm of the fantastical or in reality. For the scope of this paper I will explore a specific form of fantastical realm (Lovecraftian 6 ) defined by the

creation of HP Lovecraft. Two extreme boundaries that I have defined are spaces such as an ordinary house (familiar) and the haunted houses of HP Lovecraft (unfamiliar). I will attempt to establish a link between the two edges and how they interact in Gray state. Understanding the environments on the extremes will help in establishing reference points with which to study the gray state. These gray spaces are unique in a sense that their position on the ―familiarness‖ scale would be obscure. At one point they are they are extremely familiar like the spaces in our homes on the other hand they are as unfamiliar as a corner in a dark alley. Their position seems to be in flux.

Anxiety and fear seems to be prevalent with the onset of the gray state. It like an identifier, as gray state is not a real space but a set of condition and anxiety seems to the human response to this condition.

A person feels comfortable in a familiar space such as owns bedroom. The comfort relaxes our senses .Like a person wearing gloves and over the period of time the distinction between the hand and the gloves disappears. Similarly a familiar space undergoes the same transformation and like a gloves it becomes our extension. Examples of such spaces in our

house would be corridors, corner, alcoves 7 , basement etc. These spaces become potential thresholds between familiar and unfamiliar if they are reactivated as special spaces. Suddenly

a space that is familiar with becomes something anew and exhibits unfamiliar traits. So a house naturally becomes an easy archetype where the gray state can be studied. When this projection of stable reality is shattered, home is transformed from a place of comfort and familiarly into a space which exhibits uneasiness and is unfamiliar. Home is a place where uncanny manifests most prominently as tensions are exposed between the familiar and the unfamiliar space.

6 Prohászková Viktória. ―The Genre of Horror‖ American International Journal of Contemporary Research ; Vol. 2 No.4 April 2012. pp 1,2, web. AIJCR 16 th June 2014

7 Bachelard Gaston. ―The Poetics of Space”. Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1,

When describing the characteristics of place which gray state occupies elements like the , light, sound, geometry, material, scale, volume 8 , associations with the ‗object‘ must be kept

in mind. I am interested in the Karachiite‘s perception of gray state and how orientation and intellectual uncertainty have an effect.

For a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena, gray state was broken down to its components. Each component was then studied. I used various literatures to build a greater understanding of these components: familiar, unfamiliar and fear. It also provided me with an opportunity to establish reference points and identify thresholds, where the struggle of familiar and unfamiliar manifests itself in a form of fear. The unfamiliar, is a place that has a potential to inspire an architect to push the boundaries of architecture. The primary research was based on mainly site analysis and interviews. The data that was gathered in the primary research was mainly qualitative as the focus of this paper is based on how we perceive such a space that has uncanny attributes. Through the analysis of personal accounts of gray space within their house an attempt was made to achieve an intimate understanding of the subject.

8 Ching Francis D.K, ―Architecture: Form , Space and Order, 3 rd edition‖, New Jersey USA and Canada, John Wiley & Sons, 2007, print

Literature review

The nature of this phenomenon was explored through a process of answering a series of question. The study began with examination of the place where it occurs. It explores what a place was? It then proceeds to examine the nature of these dual places; familiar and unfamiliar and how humans perceive and experience them. This examination would highlight the humans experience on the extreme positions (familiar and unfamiliar) where by setting the stage for inspection of threshold (Gray State) between the two extreme positions. The examination of threshold leads to a process of examining human response to experience (fear of unknown) of this threshold.

Literature review aims to deal primarily with fear, its relations with space and threshold, how

a familiar space is transformed into an unfamiliar space. How the familiarity of a space depends on our knowledge about the space, the link between fear and geometry. Thus the literature review is divided into the following.

Phenomenological Place

In order to examine, the nature of an uncanny threshold where a person experiences anxiety

or fear 10 , there is a need to first examine the place of its occurrence. This leads a question of what is a place.

Place is defined as a totality made up of concrete things having material, substance, shape, texture, and colour. Together these things determine an environmental character which is the essence of place. A place is therefore a qualitative, total phenomenon which we cannot reduce to any of its properties such as spatial relationships without losing its concrete nature

out of sight. 11

In his essay ‗The phenomenon of place (essay)‟, Christian Norberg-Schulz highlights the nature of ‗place‘ this definition deals with place as a holistic phenomenon. This insight sets up argument that a place can be familiar, unfamiliar and uncanny as it is ‗qualitative in

nature‘ 13 . Every activity occurs in a certain place . Every such activity requires certain conditions that need to be met 14 . Activities such as studying or dancing may have totally

different set of requirement, so may need a totally different place. Even accidental activities such as getting scared or anxious may require a different place for it to occur. This would imply that the places where uncanny threshold seems to exist will have similar set of conditions and may even be qualitatively the same place.

fear‘ Def. 1a. Merriam Webster Online, Merriam Webster, n.d, web, 15 th june 2014

10 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

1996 printp 414 11 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An

Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1, 1996 print

12 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

1996 print 13 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

1996 print 14 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

15 Martin Heidegger 16 in his work ―thinking on architecture ‖ defines a place as a thing . This is explained through human experience. He uses the metaphors of a picnic to express this idea.

In essence a picnic place is an arbitrary place for everyone else except the people who are out for a picnic and have chosen the picnic place. For them this picnic space is place which meets their perception of what a picnic place should be. The place is highlighted by the activities that happen in it. In this respect the place of an uncanny threshold (gray state) will differ for each person. As each person will have their own personal experiences but occasionally these

thresholds can exist as a result of collective experiences meaning the same place 17 will be at a gray state for more than one person. Just like the shared experience of a picnic.

To Heidegger space only comes into being because we‘re able to identify places 18 .Another aspect which Heidegger reveals is the element of memory 19 and how it influences our perception and understanding of place 20 . Places are segments of spaces form within a ―generality of space‖ 21 , which are formed as a result of human experience. To solidify this

experience, memory is utilized. Memory is used to form an association of a past experience with a physical space which would imply that the person will be reminded of the experience whenever they interact with that place, forming an identity of a place. 22 In the context of the

15 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

published, March 1, 1996 print 16 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

published, March 1, 1996 print 17 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

published, March 1, 1996 print 18 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

published, March 1, 1996 print 19 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

published, March 1, 1996 print 20 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

published, March 1, 1996 print 21 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

published, March 1, 1996 print 22 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1, 1996 print 22 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „Heidegger‟s „thinking on architecture‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press

Familiar Place and Homeliness

The exploration of uncanny threshold (gray state) begins not in the some uncharted unknown regions but in fact in the most intimate centres of human activity that is home.

23 Home is a special place for the family 24 . It is a place of comfort and familiarity . If explore the origins of this word we find that in th e old English it was called ‗ham‘ meaning dwelling

, house , estate village, in old Norse ‗heimr‘ meaning residence world, in Greek it was kome and in Sanskrit it was kseti‘ 25 . The linguistic origins suggest that a home may be considered a

space to which a person is physically and emotionally attached to. It is their part of the earth,

a place where they are most familiar with. In ‗poetics of space‟ 26 , Gaston Bachelard explores the human interaction with their house. ―A

house constitutes a body of images that give mankind pro 27 ofs or illusions of stability.‖ This ―illusion of stability,‖ is an important factor in making the person feels comfortable in his

house. The more he feels comfortable the more he is familiar with his surroundings. The metaphorical images to which Gaston Bachelard refers to are then placed in order by two

interconnected ideas regarding the house. The house is imagined as a 28 ―vertical being‖ and as a ―concentrated being‖ 29 . The nature of verticality established the two opposites which Gaston Bachelard establishes as the attic and the cellar 30 . The opposites define the boundary

of familiarity.

23 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 24 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print

25 home (n.) etymonline . Douglas Harper 2014.web.

Accessed 12 june 2014.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=home

26 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 27 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 28 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 29 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 30 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1,

By establishing an image of a watchtower 31 guarding us, Gaston Bachelard is portraying a home as a 32 ―place of refuge‖ whose purpose is to protect from the horrors of the unknown. ―With the example of the hut and the light that keeps vigil on the far horizon we have shown the concentration of intimacy in the refuge in its most simplified form‖. 33 Home becomes a

place which offers not only stability but also refuge. It is a place of comfort and intimacy for its inhabitants. This emotional attachment and association with spaces is critical to my argument of the existence of gray space. This attachment according to Gaston Bachelard is explained by our memory. Every space in homes houses a particular memory, a facet of our childhood and all the spaces that we encounter later in life are reinterpreted according to our

initial experiences 34 . Memories become instrumental in a way a person perceives a space even before they experience it.

Another important idea is that a home must be a place of familiarity and therefore should be a place through which he identifies himself. This identification represented through a given address is his assertion of his place on earth. His house lets him orient himself. This orientation provides him psychological sense of security as it helps in grounding himself and

it also offers him a physical direction which provides him knowledge of his houses location. 35 This idea is expressed in Christian norberg- 36 schulz paper ‗The phenomenon of place‘ ,

31 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 32 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 33 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 34 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1, 1994 print 35 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

1996 print 36 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

…To gain an existential foothold man has to be able to orientate himself he has to know where he is. But he also has to identify himself with the environment that is; he has to know

how 37 he is in a certain place…

In Lovecraftian Myths Spatially the world of man was governed by the laws of Euclidean geometry 38 . It is ordered and predictable and hence offered stability to its residence. This

correlates to description of a home explained in the poetics of space. Interestingly enough HP Lovecraft uses orientation 39 to emphasize contrast between the unfamiliar and familiar.

37 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

1996 print 38 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013), 39 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous

Unfamiliar Place

Unfamiliar Place is explored through a fictitious short story a ―The dreams in the witch house (short story) 40 ‖ by HP Lovecraft. The story presents a vivid description of an unfamiliar

place. It also provides insight on how people react to such environment and establishes an extreme position in the familiar scale.

‗The darkness always teemed with unexplained sound – and yet he sometimes shook with fear least the noise he heard should subside and allow him to hear certain other, fainter,

noises which he suspected were lurking behind them‘ 41

The atmosphere is manipulated by HP Lovecraft as he overlaps two explanations of the noises which Gilman 42 (protagonist) hears. It‘s an acknowledgment of the notion that both

familiar and unfamiliar does exist in the same place. Like in the story it lurks behind the known experiences.

―Gilman's room was of good size but queerly irregular shape; the north wall slating perceptibly inward from the outer to the inner end, while the low ceiling slanted gently downward in the same direction. Aside from an obvious rat-hole and the signs of other stopped-up ones, there was no access …though a view from the exterior showed where a window had been boarded up at a very remote date. The loft above the ceiling - which must

have had a slanting floor - 43 was likewise inaccessible.‖

Description of Gilman ‗s room, Lovecraft highlights three important features; it had irregular shape, boarded windows and inaccessible loft. The irregular shape hints towards the

geometry of the room. It‘s an attic with qualities of a cellar 44 . Acts such as boarded windows and inaccessible spaces creates a sense of anxiety as we are unable to identify what is in those

spaces.

40 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 41 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 42 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 43 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p

44 Bachelard Gaston, “The Poetics of Space”, Boston, Massachusetts. Beacon Press; Reprint edition April 1,

1994 print

Lovecraftian world was governed by the Non-Euclidean geometry (chaotic and seemingly incomprehensible) 45 . From his text we understand that geometry has a strong role to play

when making a space, unfamiliar or familiar. All of HP Lovecraft s monsters and incomprehensible geometry is aimed at creation of an almost alien atmosphere in familiar surroundings. The ―Angled masses, prisms, cubes and planes here interweave in arabesque patterns with the bizarre organic forms of centipedes and octopi to arouse a sense of ultimate

alienation‖, 46 an ultimate horror for HP Lovecraft.

―The house provided an especially favoured site for uncanny disturbances: its apparent domesticity, its residue of family history and nostalgia, its role as a last and most intimate

shelter of private comfort sharpened by contrast the terror of invasion by alien spirits.‖ 47

Anthony Vidler 48 in ‗Unhomely houses (book)‘ investigates elements that transform a familiar place into an unfamiliar place through fictional horror stories. He works points to my

early exploration of the relationship between place, experience and memory. Lack of orientation 49 and obscurity can make a place unhomely. By orientation I am referring

to effects it has on a person. It provides them with certainty and clarity. He argues that even a well maintained house can be made unhomely, if the house surrounds itself in mystery and

if activity which helped indentify it disappears 50 . Lack of knowledge and unanswered questions creates a sense of uncertainty about the house. Secrets and silence transforms it 51 .

Elements of a house when no longer perform their intended functions, then it begins to transform into an unfamiliar place. For instance if the window whose purpose is to provide

45 , Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013),pp3 46 , Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013),pp5

47 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992

48 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992

49 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992 p23

50 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992 p20

51 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 51 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press

52 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992 pp 19 20

53 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press

Fear of Unknown

54 In an essay, 55 ―On the Psychology of the Uncanny (essay)” . Jentsch defines Uncanny as an outcome of intellectual uncertainty. Which would imply that uncanny is an element which

is defined by its obscurity. ―The human desire for the intellectual mastery of one‘s environment is a strong one. Intellectual certainty provides psychical shelter in the struggle

for existence‖.

A key idea in his definition was orientation. Intellectual uncertainty he argued was caused by lack of orientation of the environment and ignorance about the nature of phenomena. In his essay he highlighted that certain environmental conditions amplify this sense of uncertainty.

\ "…when this doubt only makes itself felt obscurely in one‘s consciousness…(the) same emotion occurs when, as has been described, a wild man has his first sight of a locomotive or

a steamboat, for example, perhaps at night…‖ In his example the wild man is limited by his intellectual capacity which prevents him from

understanding a steamboat. To him it feels alien. The environment adds to the confusion and fuels his uncertainty. Night conceals the whole form and presents a false image of the steamboat. As wild man is unable to fathom the object in front of him, he cannot decide whether it is dangerous or not. This uncertainty and lack of control over his environment creates a feeling of uncanny. The environment in which the Wild man exists is a place of gray state.

Jentsch idea of uncanny was expanded by Freud but he refused to accept the idea of uncertainty. A psychoanalytical principle is used to explain the phenomena. The explanation

for the occurrence of uncanny was as a consequence of 56 the “return of the repressed” .

The story of ―Councillor Krespel” 57 by Hoffmann is a peculiar tale which begins with Krespel building his own house without the help of an architect. About the house Vidler

observed:

54 Jentsch Ernst ―On the Psychology of the Uncanny”(1906) trans Sellars, Roy.web accessed 10 april 2014 55 Jentsch Ernst ―On the Psychology of the Uncanny”(1906) trans Sellars, Roy.web accessed 10 april 2014

56 ―Uncanny (defined) as the class of frightening things that leads us back to what is known and familiar.‖

―...the result of his manoeuvres was a home ‗presenting a most unusual appearance from the outside —no two windows being alike and so on—but whose interior arrangements aroused a very special feeling of ease‘ ‖ 58

The house displayed a dichotomy between the outside and inside with the entrance forming as a threshold. Freud highlighted the connection between a haunted house and homely house

was through a ―single passage‖ where it contains secrets that ought to remain hidden and are filled with terrors 59 . Environment that seems familiar and homely will contain dormant

element of unfamiliarity 60 . The unearthing and its realization, of its existence, in familiar surroundings results in an uncanny experience 61 .

57 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992, p29

58 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992 p30

59 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992 p 32

60 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992

61 Vidler Anthony. ―The Architectural Uncanny, Essays in the modern Unhomely‖. Massachusetts ,MIT press 1992

Thus it can be summarized here that the uncanny experience contains;  Disorientation

 Intellectual uncertainty  Return of the repressed

The paper 62 ―Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft (paper)” , by Moritz Ingwersen 63 establishes a couple of things which seems to work in the world of HP Lovecraft but also could be applied to the real world, a notion that ―alienation 64 of familiar

forms can induce fear 66 . He goes on to argue that fear is grounded in uncertainties . When certain ideas or situation challenge our conception of reality we experience fear because the

framework of our reality is questioned 67 . The point where our reality is questioned (intellectual uncertainty) is a point which I described as a threshold between the familiar

space and unfamiliar space. Ingwersen describes this threshold as an experience where ―[W]e are so strongly affected and terrified because it is our world which ceases to be

reliable , […] it presupposes that the categories which apply to our world view become inapplicable.‖ 68

Ingwersen allows us to understand the ways in which science, and geometry in particular, is used to emphasize Intellectual uncertainty . ―In many cases it is specifically their un unassimilable geometrical properties in form of elusive angles and ambiguous symmetries

62 Ingwersen Moritz is a professor at the University of Cologne, and is currently working on his Ph.D. in the

field of science and literature at Trent University, Canada

63 Ingwersen Moritz is a professor at the University of Cologne, and is currently working on his Ph.D. in the

field of science and literature at Trent University, Canada 64 Alienation here means either disorientation or intellectual uncertainty

65 Ingwersen Moritz Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous

Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013),p6 66 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013),p 2 67 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013),p 6

68 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013), p6. Wolfgang Kayser, The Grotesque in Art and Literature 68 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013), p6. Wolfgang Kayser, The Grotesque in Art and Literature

geometry [is] so violently put at stake 70 . Geometry is performing an ironic role here. It is used to create uncertainties rather than perform its original task that is measure and define

certainties.

Ingwersen provides a direction to develop in terms of linkages that he forms with geometry, familiarity and fear. On the other hand questions could and should be raised as to why must the logic of a horror story be applicable in the real world?

69 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013),pp1

70 Ingwersen Moritz, Monstrous Geometries in the fiction of Hp Lovecraft, (Presented at the Monstrous

Geographies 2nd Global Conference May 2013),p6

Gray State

In ―The dreams in the witch house ( short story) ‖ 71 by HP Lovecraft, he describes a potential hypothetica 72 l gray space. This space is no other then the protagonist‘s room . First he tells us

the history of the room and its surroundings. As described below: ―He was in the changeless, legend haunted city of Arkham, with its clustering gambrel roofs

that sway and sag over attics where witches hid from the king‘s men in the dark, olden days of the Province. Nor was any spot in that city more steeped in macabre memory than the

gable room which harboured him.‖ 73

The Room 74 exists in the attic and it is here where he encounters the unknown. Attic is a threshold where he travels between the real and the fantastical 75 , where the familiar merges

with the unfamiliar thus becoming an extreme example of Gray state. For Gilman, the room with old angles becomes familiar and unfamiliar becomes the spaces that surrounds the attic

which are unreachable 76 .

The strange geometry 77 of the room is difficult to conceive for the readers making readers loose sense of orientation 78 and as for the Gilman the odd angles and unreachable spaces

breaks intellectual certainly of what lies within them. The rat hole is a metaphorical representation of the repressed which as the story unfolds comes forth engulfing Gilman in uncanny world. As for the readers unconceivable spaces puts them in a position where they can‘t properly imagine where the story is unfolding. This loss of control puts the reader in Gilman‘s shoes and the sense of uncanny sets in as the reader like Gilman is filled with uncertainty and doubt. Gilman‘s interaction with the unknown propels the reader into exploring their own depts. of their repressed fears as they try imagining the horrors faced by

71 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 72 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 73 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 74 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 75 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 76 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p 77 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p

78 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p

Gilman. By providing a patchwork of images describing the unknown 79 HP Lovecraft forces the reader into filling the gaps with their own fragments of repressed fear.

79 Lovecraft Howard Phillips ―the dreams in the witch house”. Houston. Halcyon. 2010.n.p

Conclusion of Literature Review

Basic understanding of the phenomena was provided through the secondary research. It helped in defining and expanding the key concepts which explain how people perceive spaces but it had certain shortcomings. The chosen literature was not compiled or created by Pakistani authors; this implies that there could be a possibility that the definitions of key ideas such as the uncanny or unfamiliar might be different. Various societies describe and interpret these ideas differently. For this reason and to get a clearer understanding of how a typical Pakistani perceives and interact with these ideas a decision was made to interview practicing psychologists. Another inherent weakness in the literature was the fictional writings of HP Lovecraft as means of investigating an unfamiliar space. Although this technique had its roots in phenomenology, I felt that by focusing on one writer‘s interpretation of unfamiliar meant that the interpretation was personal rather than general. A much wider insight could have been reached had I chosen more than one author and more specifically had I chosen a local author. My choice of one author was because the exploration was not about the physical description of the unfamiliar but rather the impact it has on humans and also due to time constrain.

The only reason which prevented me from using a local author was because work would then had to be analyzed through the techniques and definitions grounded in western thought and I felt that my analysis of the work using those principles would end up giving me a foreigner‘s interpretation of local work and so it would pollute the result.

Uncanny or gray state is different for everyone just like fear is. Through emphasis on similarities of these experiences, elements could be defined. HP Lovecraft work was analyzed for these elements established through the reading of Jentsch, Freud, Vidler and Bachelard. Later these characteristics which the person felt would be used in my analysis of the residences of Sea View housing scheme in respect to the familiar space and the uncanny threshold (gray state).

 These elements were:  disorientation  intellectual uncertainty  return of repressed

Disorientation and intellectual uncertainty were the focus of my primary research as they deal with physical 80 aspect of the phenomena. Spatially these elements could occur through these

factors:

 Geometry of the space  Lighting of the room.  Unreachable / inaccessible spaces  Lack of control of the space (example: a room with many doors and windows)

Research methodology

The epistemological position that I took for this study was Constructivism 81 . The reason was that my study did not require an objective truth 82 .The constructionist stance maintains that

different people may construct meaning in different ways, even in relation to the same

phenomenon 84 . My position led me to theoretical perspective of Interpretivism. Interpretivism is theoretical position which places importance on understanding of the

word from an individual perspective. Which is the reason why the methodology for the data I am using phenomenological technique of narrative inquiry 85 and interviews. The narratives

are then juxtaposed with Lovecraftian text and both are later analyzed by extracting their similarities

This paper explores the phenomena of gray state through a phenomenological lens. Specific human spatial experience as explored here, sheds light on how human understanding of spaces and their experiences is in flux. It explores the two extreme positions of spatial interpretations (familiar and unfamiliar) and the uncanny threshold (gray state)that lies in between. The uncanny threshold becomes the medium through which the identity of place is investigated.

As stated earlier in the conclusion of the literature review the four elements will be the focus of the site survey. One houses were arbitrary chosen within Sea View housing scheme as case study. This particular housing scheme was chosen because:

Secure surroundings (within and outside the scheme)

81 Feast Luke and Gavin Melles . ‗Epistemological Positions in Design Research: A Brief Review of the

Literature ‟, Melbourne, july 2010, .academia.edu, web web, 19 th may 2014 , accessed pp 2,4

82 Feast Luke and Gavin Melles. ‗Epistemological Positions in Design Research: A Brief Review of the Literature ’, Melbourne, july 2010, .academia.edu, web web, 19 th may 2014 , accessed pp 2,4 83 Feast Luke and Gavin Melles. ‗Epistemological Positions in Design Research: A Brief Review of the Literature

’, Melbourne, july 2010, .academia.edu, web web, 19 th may 2014 , accessed pp 2,4 84 Feast Luke and Gavin Melles. ‗Epistemological Positions in Design Research: A Brief Review of the

Literature ’, Melbourne, july 2010, .academia.edu, web web, 19 th may 2014 , accessed pp 2,4 85 Feast Luke and Gavin Melles. ‗Epistemological Positions in Design Research: A Brief Review of the

’, Melbourne, july 2010, .academia.edu, web web, 19 th may 2014 , accessed pp 2,4

Every block is surrounded by trees with a small park (lights from various blocks are defused by the tree buffer making night darker)

Clam and silent neighborhood (person is not constantly reminded of the city)

I have lived here for more than 10 years (more easily to conduct interview regarding sensitive topics such as fear, also if they know me than they will not feel intimidated and the process of

othering 86 will not occur)

The arbitrary nature of the choice distilled any biasness or placebos that could be generated otherwise. An inherent strength which this investigation received by studying a housing scheme was that their planning was identical. While this produces a level filed from which to ground my work it also provides me an exciting opportunity to highlight the relationship humans have with architecture. The date collective is qualitative in nature as it deals spaces and how people experience and interpret them.

The house was analyzed through the descriptions provided by its residence. These descriptions were about the moment were they felt scared .They had to first specify the time and location where it happened and then proceed to describe what they felt about the space. Within the narrative they had to mention, the light, geometry, any unreachable spaces and the presence of doors and windows or any other element which they felt that challenged their control over the moment of its occurrence.

To further understand the nature the human response to architecture and the cause of fear two psychologists were interviewed and to understand architectural spaces with respect to people, an architect was interviewed via email.

An assumption was made before hand that the fear that people associate with supernatural is in fact atmospheric and psychological. The reason for this assumption was that I did not want to study the cause of the fear but rather the atmosphere of the space where it exists. The data collected are personal accounts and so are naturally questionable evidence and subjected to

86 othering.Def.1 wiktionary.org. Wiktionary. n.d, web, 19 th November 2013 , 86 othering.Def.1 wiktionary.org. Wiktionary. n.d, web, 19 th November 2013 ,

phenomenon 87

The primary research will try to sketch a profile of how a Karachiite defines fear and how do they perceive the space where gray state exists.

87 pheno me non.Def.1 Merriam-Webster Online, Merriam-Webster. n.d, web, 19 th November 2013 ,

Analysis and Discussion

To understand the dynamics of the phenomena, there is a need to understand how Karachiites define and perceives it. For that I conducted two interviews with practicing psychologist. It provided guidance through which the initial literature could be adjusted to better suit the conditions in Karachi.

Dr Saba Suleman 88 ,a practicing psychologist in an interview defined fear of the unknown as

a presumption of the worst possible outcome for the person 89 . While another psychologist Dr

Yahya Hussain 91 defined it as ―Fake, emotions which appear real‖ .Both of these definitions seems to be a case of anxiety. This is a similar response to a person experiencing

disorientation or intellectual uncertainty. Ar 92 Salman Arif in his interview regarded that ―Deserted space‖ 93 as a place which was unfamiliar and was prone to cause fear. Ar Ramiz

94 Baig 95 regarded an― ostentatious space‖ as frightening but not necessary fearful. His insight on the human response is such that while an unfamiliar space might be more fearful

but people are prepared so they won‘t be frightened on the other a familiar space can become frightening as a person is less alert 96 . These definitions provide an insight to what people may

feel in a gray state. Another factor that influences the nature of perception was memory 97 . As earlier stated;

Heidegger placed great importance to memory claiming it an essential element in place identification. Memory is linked to an activity with the space 98 just as suggested earlier in ‗

88 Suleman Saba, interview conducted in person: 2 nd April 2014. Transcribed from recording 89 Suleman Saba, interview conducted in person: 2 nd April 2014. Transcribed from recording 90 Hussain Yahya.interview conducted in person: 2 nd April 2014. Transcribed from recording 91 Hussain Yahya.interview conducted in person: 2 nd April 2014. Transcribed from recording

92 Arif Salman, Conducted by email: 18 th -20 th May 2014

93 th

Arif Salman, th Conducted by email: 18 -20 May 2014

94 Baig Ramiz

th Conducted by email 10 -14 th June 2014

95 Baig Ramiz Conducted by email 10 th -14 th June 2014

Baig Ramiz th Conducted by email 10 -14 June 2014

96 th

97 98 Norberg-Schulz Christian. „The phenomenon of place‟ .Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture:: An

Anthology of Architectural Theory.Ed .Nesbitt Kate, city, Princeton architectural press published, March 1,

The phenomenon of place‟(essay). This idea of association 99 with spaces was expanded by both Dr Suleman and Dr Hussain , who linked this with fear of certain spaces and events 100 , 101 . For example a person was robed in a dark alley, now every dark alley will be a source of anxiety. 102 For Heidegger this memory was not restricted to just personal memory. Similarly

Dr Hussain also expressed that associations that are formed due to experiences of these events does not necessary be their own 103 .

Childhood experiences become pertinent as this is the time when the person learns to associate certain responses to certain events. We are conditioned to fear dark spaces 104 . The

conditioning 105 begins with parents and later society through movies and other media, which reinforces our perception and directs are response towards it.